...I think WE got YOUR rain...

WHEW! And the rain rain rain came down down down...(2x)...(make that 80x)... GRABE! That was insane rain, I tell you! ..And the rain rain rain came down down down in rushing, rising rivlets... and the river crept out of its bed, and crept right into Piglet's! haha we sure got a lot on Thursday. It was raining pretty hard all morning while we studied and still rained as we went out to work.We were grateful for cool weather, but I prayed it wouldn't be too much rain, but just right, so we could do what we needed to do. Well, just right was A LOT. And pretty soon we were swimming home! ...basically. we still taught a good handful of lessons, but it got dark extra early and we walked through some big puddles to get to our last appt.. The really big surprise came when we came out of our second to last lesson and the drainage...river thing... had risen probably a good 10ish feet!!! Yeah, surprise! it was inches from overflowing!!! YUCK!!!
then when we went home, we nearly burned the motor out on the tricycle, getting thru the water in the streets... it was smoking something awful. and smelled nice and burnt. but we made it to where we needed to continue on foot. eventually we picked our route and headed out on the adventure! there was a house right by where S. Stromberg and i waited for Br. John and Br. Wilmar to test the waters. literally. they were really nice and wanted us to come in. we almost taught them. we need to go back to them. they gave us plastic bags to put our proselyting bags in. we began our loong deep journey in the mists of darkness... joke. but we seriously had to carry our bags on our shoulders with one hand and an umbrella in the other. the water got up past my stomach! it would have been higher had i not been on my tip toes :) it felt SOO good to shower! don't worry, the water didn't get in our apt. they keep it out of our housing area pretty well. we did get to help some members clean up their house. i was singing the rain song while we bailed water :) hehee.

It's been a good week and the work still is wonderful! But I feel President Stucki is very right in the email he sent us all this week. He feels most of us need to aim higher. He is asking us to set higher goals, pray in faith, and act in faith and diligence to better fulfill our purpose. He feels that for many of us, our purpose is not yet deep enough in our hearts. I know I have some faith to exercise and a lot more work to do--starting with prayer. That's actually been the hardest of work lately. I ask that as you pray for the missionaries, that you might pray that our prayers--and the prayers of all who are praying--may be strengthened through our faith. We're all in this work together, after all :)

That's FANTASTIC news from work, Dad! At Vulcraft :) I'm so happy for you and our family! And aren't kids the greatest???? I'm going to hold a million of them when I come home--just because I can!!!! I miss holding little ones so much.

I'm super bummed I don't get to finish my letter from mommy this week, but I'm printing it off with the rest so i can respond and appreciate more! I love you so much! I'm so glad boo had a good birthday! i'll be thinkin of joj. What a good kid! And my hymn for today will be ... wow so many good ones to choose from! this week i was thinking If There's Sunshine in Your Heart... and today I'm thinking Did You Think to Pray? maybe the second one's more for me.

Please tell Rae, Lou, Craig, and Aaron, that I will be working on their responses asap. How i love and appreciate them! Congrats to Lou on her race! Rae, I love you and I'm so glad you love and trust in our Father. It's all in his perfect understanding.

To Sis. Gupta: I got your email! Salamat talaga! Dun ka parin sa prayers ko, shemps. masaya ako na masaya ka! s stromberg and i are great! having a blast! our area is wonderful and we have another baptism November 17. mahal kita, dear nay! love, your anak

...

gotta go so i can be exactly obedient. that's my biggest goal this week :) I L)OVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!! love sis kylee richardson


oh! mom, my top invisaline is falling apart.. can something be done about that? i still have the fake tooth i set inside when i wear it. do they have the mold? i'm careful with it... sorry for the favors!

also, if there's room in a small/reasonable package, i wouldn't mind either texture paste (like bed hed stuff for hair) or some gold bond body powder. very handy here. go figure. neither one is something i'll die without. there are alternatives :)

xoxo!

I'M A LEOPARD!!!

...Or, at least that's what S. Stromberg thought I said earlier today. I really said, "I'M A LEPER!!!" ...Because all my skin is falling off. Well. kinda. My hands are just peeling like CRAZY! And out of nowhere! But it's okay. today's only day 2 of that and S. Stromberg said that happened to both her and S. Dyer last transfer and it was only for about a day. let's hope it's the same deal. i can't honestly imagine it lasting long. it's not because my hands are dry... there's a different kind of feeling when they're dry. it's weird. but... it's the Philippines :)

Kumusta naman kayo??? I LOVE YOU! This week went by pretty quick and I can't believe we're starting week 5 in the transfer!!! next week is transfer day again (on thursday) and we hope we're both still here. i can't see why i wouldn't be. it would be strange for me to transfer so quickly. but S. S has a history of only 1 transfer w/ companions... i don't want her to go!!! but hopefully we'll just both be here the next 2 transfers--right thru Christmas =) that would be happy!

*NOTE: Please forward email to S. Murdoch as well! :)
That's so cooool that your first contact was from that very city! No accident for sure! Wow, I'm so happy for you both! I am sure you're doing really well with the language. I've found that the only way for me to be successful in Tagalog is, of course, to rely on the Lord. I still feel I should be way better than I am. But I just need to give it my best and trust and He makes up the difference.
I look forward to this time for you and I'll be praying for your safety and success in it all. Yay for adventure!!!

Wow, it sounds like you had quite the meeting, my dear ones! Dad, I marvel with you that we have been blessed with such a family as ours. I know that what you said is true: As we draw near to the Father through his Son, we will also draw nearer to our family. (and of course spouses, be they future or whatever :P). so true! and that none of our sacrifices are sacrifices in the end (Mosiah 2:21-22.. and the whole chapter, really...).


HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BOOTLEE DOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU'RE THE BIG 9 NOW--WOOHOOO!!!

That doesn't surprise me a bit that she's been counting down! You ROCK, BOODLE! I hope she has a SUPERB birthday!!! :) What a cutie! Haha we don't have any free candy to look forward to on halloween, but we do get to maybe visit the cemetary and hand out lots of Plan of Salvation pamphlets--and maybe even show Man's Search for Happiness if Br. Wilmar gets his way--on Nov. 1! That's Day of the Dead and everyone is in the cemetary all day... That's also transfer day, so it'll be an adventure. oh, adventure! and.. mermaids are just really cool, so i don't blame her. in tagalog, mermaid is sirina and merman is siyokoy. haha that's funny i learned that before a lesson one day because some mermaid show was on and they love teaching us random tagalog words, so the family told us what those were.
akjshdkh

sorry that's not tagalog, i was testing bc there was an issue and ...nvm. but i ran out of time, i'm so sorry! I've got to email president and hit the road to get groceries. but i want you to know, mom, how much the things you shared touched my heart. your faith and prayers inspire me. i want to pray more like you do. that's part of my goal for the week. thank you for your example!!!!

i choose hymn #...?

We Are All Enlisted!!!!! it goes right along with what you shared from E. Summerhays! What a glorious blessing it is to have such faithful servants as our leaders!

please tell aaron that he's awesome and i super appreciate the info he sent!!! and i'm really hoping what you said of sam is true, that he is changing on the inside. that's the part that counts most.

i love you all more than i can say!

MARK AND MARYANN were BAPTIZED and Mark is worthy to receive the priesthood! He's now a priest :) he's a sweet 16 yr old and maryann is 13. their testimonies were superb and i'm so excited for them! mark made a lot of changes and i lov e that about the gospel!

love, sis r

:D

Wow, what a sweet pumpkin! that's how you spell that, right? woooeee! way to go! does it quack, too? how long did that take? I'm sure gonna miss pumpkin pie this year! and candy :)

Dad, you're so right! I shan't complain, as i know email is soooo much speedier than snail mail! one more reason to give thanks!
Plus that new job sounds great for you! I couldn't think of a better one myself! Isn't it amazing how such a great blessing came from what we first thought we wouldn't survive.. when you lost your job at La-Z-Boy just a few years ago? What a plan our Father has for us!
Yeah... that's pretty disgusting about our furry infestation. But i'll include that in my prayers. At least they're prob a heck of a lot cuter than the big dead rats i see often on the roads... and cuter than cockroaches. i never thought i'd find something i hated so much as i do spiders... cockroaches about take the gold there. again, i LOVE permethrine!
As for the Philippino food, i'm doing just fine! but i sure do eat plenty of american food with my current kasama :) you wouldn't believe how deliciously familiar a McDo burger tastes after more than 6 months! haha! we ate with our hands earlier today. rice and chicken and some fried fish and a fried vegetable. i discovered something i super love! it's cucumber dipped in pepper and vinegar. and that's tasty on rice! milk fish is really mild, so i can handle that, too. i was born a seafood hater, like my mother before me :)

Douglas and Maren Stromberg are her parents, speaking of mothers! she says you should be friends!

YES, Mom!!!!!!!!!!! GC was an absolutely filling experience! I felt wonderful. I loved it all. We are indeed so blessed.
Thank you so much for that beautiful and simple revelation and understanding you received. That is truly the purest essence of our communication with a loving Heavenly Father. And my communication could stand a lot of improvement.
You know, I have just been reading a little about the Atonement, too. I love Isaiah's poetic words in chapter 14 of Mosiah. At the time I read it, I desparately needed His forgiveness and it filled me with a peace and gratitude that I cannot express. I love HIm. and i know HE LIVES.
I'm SO EXCITED for that lil box, Ma! And excited for Aunt Teri! How is Aunt Barb and Shelby? And Shauna? All your sisters have been on my mind lately.
Oh how my own siblings warm my heart! Their accomplishments feel like my own. I'm so proud of them!

I so love that hymn! It makes my heart happy, but it means so much more to me now than it ever did before. I will choose this week We'll Bring the World His Truth. :)

Please tell Aaron that i'll have to print and read his email now and send a bit of a reply next week :) and how i appreciate that he's so good at doing that! it is so nice to hear from my friends. the memory card should be on its way.

*Note, please forward to monica.gupta@myldsmail.net : SALAMAT sa sulat mo sa akin!!! Gusto ko yung lalake na namention mo sa email ngayon... hindi yung sa sulat... :) if my vote counts for anything! haha shemps ikaw ay sa mga panalangin ko. alam ko na magiging ayos lahat, nay. :) magaling ka! huwag ka magalaala. at naiintindihan ko na busy na busy ka. congrats talaga on the special na oportunidad na gawin yung HINDI TRANSLATION! grabe! astig talaga iyon! excited ako para sa iyo! mahal kita, sis!!! ingat ka!

i love you alll sssssssssssoooooooooooooo much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i hope you feel it!

love, sis r

HOLY GRANOLY!

Dearest family and loved ones,

THANK YOU ULIT for your great emails and news!

Mom, is Ash really okay??? I am so thankful that nothing happened to them. I'm more thankful than I can express. I am sad for them because they really need a car, but I know Heavenly Father is definitely looking out for them. You're so right, Ma. That was no accident. I'm so amazed at the hand of our Father.

Thanks, Dad, for some highlights from your GC experience. I am sooooooo looking forward to watching it this saturday and sunday. and i'll be looking for some of those things you mentioned! They sound so applicable to life these days, and some particularly to mine. i love how personal GC is!!! Observe and serve... what a great way to live!!!

My dearest Rae, I know you will make the right decision. Don't stress too much about making the wrong one. Because you're trying so much to do what's right, Heavenly Father won't let you go the wrong direction. Just do what you feel He wants you to do (and that might just be what YOU want to do) and go for it! One of the coolest things I learned from my dear friend Jenni (used to be Butler, now Martin) is that you need to trust that the answer you receive is right and go for it, and if it's wrong, He'll definitely let you know in a way you can recognize as you're living close to the Spirit. In her words, "Catch it like a football and run with it." That's how you roll, girl! I know you can do it. Just act in faith and blessings will follow. I know you'll do the first steps to search, ponder, and pray. After that, you've just got to plant the seed (Alma 32 and what Pres. Rees said in Stake Conference a few months ago.)

Mom, I feel overwhelmed by all the wonderful spiritual things you shared with me. Thank you so much for sharing that experience. I know Heavenly Father is so aware of you and of each of us. I can't express to you my gratitude for the Spirit and for the wonderful things that our taking place in our little piece of heaven.

Oh, Alyssa! How you just know how to pull those heart strings, ya punk! :D Dang, I'm so laughing and crying with you. You're so dang sweet, girl! Thanks for loving the Lord and loving his prophets--and loving ME! That makes me pretty dang happy. Can't even tell you! "Yuck.. It's Helen's 'special cheese...'" LOL!

Aaron, thank you for the pictures! You guys are so fun :) I know you love them, they're the BEST, di ba??? They rock and so do you! No wonder you get along so well! Hehee congrats on the workout! Do you have to pay for the PT? How often do you meet? I'm looking forward to letters!

As a note to all, please be patient with me and my letter-writing, because I write AS OFTEN as I possibly can! And now that I'm in the province-ish and not right there next to the office, it takes longer for me to receive and send letters and dearelders because we can only get them when we see our ZLs. They take care of the mail exchange with the office. So... I'll try to be patient if you will, too!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, DAD & MOM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You're the best and I hope you have the best day EVER!!! :D

All my love,

Sis. R

Know we are being SO BLESSED in the work here! We have a few INCREDIBLE ward missionaries and they work with us so much! We also have tons of referrals and the hard part is being able to visit everyone! We just need more sisters so we can go on splits! I feel incredibly blessed. We have some super awesome investigators and a few baptisms coming up really soon, hopefully a brother and sister on Oct 20. The boy has made so many changes. It's so cool to see! I'll tell you more about him, though it may be when I get home :)

GRABE! :)

HOLY CRAZY! Swahili OR Kiswahili? i think that sounds INCREDIBLE! can i do this again with the Murdocks?!?! WOW! Galing! I'm so excited for them! Thank you, Sis Murdock, for the update on how sweet my sibs are and how awesome that event was! I am excited to be able to experience the new temple for myself when I come home. I am so thankful for who you are and all you do for those around you. THANK YOU! what an example you are! you ROCK! i want to be brave enough to do all that you do when i'm grown up! The Tagalog... depends on the day :) Sometimes it's pretty easy. Sometimes it's pretty rough. But the best times are when i'm not thinking about it and i'm just doing all i can to not get in the way of the Spirit. then it doesn't matter because it's not me talking. Granted that doesn't happen all the time and i really need to apply myself better in the language and make some super vocab and verb progress. but as far as it goes in general, i know enough to survive :)

Dad, that sounds like a lot of fun for you! i hope that the Lord will continue to do as you said and bless you with what you need. your desires sure are righteous and i know He knows that. your heart is so good, dad. i love it! and i loved that story about Br. Yates. it's so true that the witness comes after the trial of our faith. and then our faith can really be strengthened once we receive that witness. if we give up too soon, we give up the chance for it to be built upon. and sometimes it's a lot closer than we estimate it. it just feels so long and hard at the time, just like you said. i know He'll help us through it if we'll just trust Him. and we'll see the blessings come!

Lou, SMurdock told me all about your sweet victory! so proud (wiping away tears and sniffling)... my lil girl... all grown up! heheee you GO, CHAMP! I know you can do it! Way to have goals and work on them! You're a genius! not to mention super cool. :) and hey, you can look up the tagalog words on google translator! though the phrases may be confusing because they use the same words in reference to she/he/it most of the time lol. its super funny when some philippinos speak english and call girls boys and boys girls :) i love it. and the cultural and youth temple experience! did they please record that????? i NEED to see that! I still don't get how we got mice... but i hope annie gets em! she better, or she won't be around much longer when i get back. joke! i love her, even if she is a freak. and tell Jar he HAS to camp out there and shoot it if the trap " don't work" --because he's the only rootin' tootin' shootin' expert we know!!!

WOw the church really does make the world small! CONGRATULATIONS to Elder T and his family! what an incredibly wonderful way to finish a mission! and CONGRATULATIONS to Aunt Teresa and her success! She is so cool and deserves it! :) Love her. Mom, I know you answered those sisters' prayers, whether they knew they needed it or not. and that's so you! thank you for doing that for them! i feel the effects of it here and i want to thank you for doing it for me as well! it makes me feel so good! don't tell that sister, but i'm not sure i remember her by name. by face i probably would :) i bet she's awesome! because --of course-- our mtc batch was astig. (the word cool is cooler to say in tagalog .)

Rae, i know that you're sad you couldn't play, but i know in the long run it's best. i'm so glad someone's taking care of you, sweetheart! way to keep up the good spirits! Boo, I'm so excited to see all your neato tricks when i get home! you'll have to see if you can record some so i can watch you learn from the beginning! i'm not at all surprised that you're good at that! Joseph, i'm so proud of you! Your last email was so funny and i just love hearing about how much of a young man you're becoming. I hope you're doing all you can now to prepare for the wonderful opportunity of serving a mission in a few years. it's worth every effort! and i know that in fulfilling your priesthood responsibilities and keeping the Spirit close, you'll definitely be ready!

thank you so much ahead of time for the package! i'm BEYOND EXCITED! I can't even tell you! i'm so thrilled to know there's a little physical piece of your love and familiness on the way to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! :) sorry, got a little carried away... :D

What a fabulous runner our mom is! Three cheers for Mommy and Daddy! Hip-hip, HOORAY! hip-hip HOORAY! hip hip HOOOOOOORAAAAAAAAAY! i didn't know Jodi does that, too! that's sooo.... astig! And thank you for the hymn! it makes me want to be so careful about each and every seed! you're so right, mom. and it goes right along with what dad said about service and seeing the growth sometime in the future when we look back...

my weeks been superb! we've got lots to do tomorrow because we've had a hard time working so far this week. we had interviews with president Stucki monday (SUPER WONDERFUL. LOVE THOSE), and sorry i didn't tell you because i wasn't told til District mtg last tuesday, so we couldn't prepare. and then we had DM yesterday and temple day today, which is also wonderful, but that means no work today bc it's pday as well. crazy stuff! but it's been SO GOOD! we found some great new ppl to teach, even though the ones we went to weren't there. this one lady is sooo humble. she's so quiet, but she will come to open up more to us. her husband is abroad adn i'm not sure how well educated she is, but she sure is sweet. i felt really good about her. and we have a new and golden investigator keeping ALL her commitments and she's SOOO super prepared! her husband may need some time, but we're so excited about it!

we have a fun district and one of my tatays (dads) in the mission (first DL and ZLs) is now my ZL again here in cavite. i love it here super!

if you could please tell monica gupta that i love her so! i would surely appreciate it. and i need an addy so i can write her... and aaron, those pics are funny!!!! thank you for sharing :) hehee you're great. the logo's great! good job! hey, good job!!!!

really quick before i sign off, could you all do me a huge favor??? well, all of you on this first one: please send me just a quick insight you gained from gen con this coming weekend bc i'll watch it the next week and what talk stood out to you so i can pay special attention to those things! SALAMAT! and mom, could you please send me just a little bit of info on the election so i can register to vote once they send me the online ballot? the stuckis have it worked out and i'll register to vote today. can you please send some info ( just kinda what you know/feel or whatever that won't take tooooo super long to read) so i can make a decision? THANK YOU! i love you sooooooo much!!!

THank you all for all you do!

love, sis r :D